About Shawna
My life has always revolved around words in some way. Growing up, I was always writing, and when I wasn’t writing, I was always reading.
An English degree was a natural fit, and after, I taught high-school students the finer points of Shakespeare and writing. Then, a master’s in communications: newsletters, press releases, communication plans. I channeled those degrees and experiences into the burgeoning internet, the most revolutionary communication tool of my lifetime, and spent ten years building websites, coding HTML and JavaScript into the wee hours of many nights.
Along the way, I took a detour and indulged another passion: interior design. I found I was rather good at it, so another degree made its way into my pocket, and a design firm was born. Eventually, I blinked and found myself managing and supporting design and construction projects for government facilities, diving into the world of sustainable interiors, becoming WELL Building certified, and learning a lot about the way we interact with the spaces we call home.
Through it all, I read. And wrote. And ate, drank, slept, and breathed words. So, when a layoff prompted some introspection and a career change, I chose the only natural path, the one I’d been walking my whole life.
I chose words.
Armed with a certificate in editing, I hung out my shingle, sharpened my pencil (well, warmed up my keyboard, really), and let the words have their way.
Education
BS English, Missouri State University
MA Communications, Lindenwood University
AAS Interior Design, Johnson County Community College
Certificate in Editing, University of Chicago
My Brain
INTJ (Myers-Briggs)
Input, Intellection, Learner, Achiever, Deliberative (StrengthsFinder)
Rebel (Four Tendencies)
5w4 (Enneagram)
More
Resume
Magic Words Editing | Fiction editing service
Random
My three cats are named after characters in Terry Brooks novels: Boh, Jax, and Wren. (Yes, I am that nerdy.)
I enjoy running half marathons, hiking the woods of Eastern Missouri, playing piano, and watching great sci-fi and fantasy shows.